Impressive environment ideas wanted

Forestry Commission Wales is looking for the most impressive habitat restoration project, the best example of preserving our archaeological heritage or successful income diversification as the search for this year’s Woods for Wales Award winner gets under way.
The winner of the annual competition, now in its sixth year, will collect a cheque for £1,750, with the runner-up receiving £500 and a third, discretionary prize of £250.

Last year's award, which looks for the best example of woodland management or innovative use of wood in Wales, attracted a record 71 entries and was won by a Wrexham-based woodland project, Coed Llandegla.

As well as the cash prize, the winner will take away a certificate and the coveted Woods for Wales Award shield, to be kept for the year.

This year applicants can enter via one of two different methods. They can either send their entry to the forestry Commission Wales office in Abergavenny or attach details to the email link on our web-site, www.forestry.gov.uk/wales

The closing date for entries is Monday, 27 February 2006. The winner will be announced at the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show on Tuesday, 25 July.

The competition will be judged by a panel of forestry experts who will assess all the applications before selecting three finalists who will then be visited before the winner is announced. Applications should be limited to no more than 500 words, but photographs and any leaflets or other supporting material will help the judges to make their decision.

forestry Commission Wales’s Woods for Wales Award is made annually for excellence in woodland management or the innovative use of wood as raw material. It is now established as one of the leading environmental awards in Wales.

Application forms are available from forestry Commission Wales, Cantref Court, Brecon Road, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, NP7 7AX, tel. 01873 850060.

forestry Commission Wales is the Assembly’s department responsible for forestry policy. It sets an example of sustainable management in its own forests and encourages other woodland owners to do likewise, through grants, regulation and research.

Previous winners of the Woods for Wales Award were Colin and Daphne Gardiner, of Gellirhyd Farm near Crickhowell (2001), pupils and staff at Croesyceiliog Comprehensive School, near Cwmbran (2002), Huw Denman and Philippe Morgan for their work in transforming Bryn Arau Duon, near Llandovery (2003), the Mostyn Estate sawmill in Flintshire (2004), and Tilhill for its woodland project, Coed Llandegla, near Wrexham (2005).